Arcain - I am not sure how old your little one is but most recommend 6 months at least for jogging stroller. Personally, I almost NEVER used a stroller of any kind. I just found that the baby bjorn was much less cumbersome even on a long walk and definitely better in the woods. You might want to try a carrier like that. It almost guarantees a content infant as well. BTW DD was a total cranky pants in the beginning so I can relate to the wanting 15 minutes of happy baby. After two months I really don't think she cried until age 1. Oh but the first 2 months were tough!

Quad - Likely the measurement was off and I certainly hope they remeasured at this visit. That being said "macrocephay" or big head is very common and most often is familial. The helmet makes NO sense unless there is plagiocephaly which is a mishape to the head that lots of kids get because of "back to sleep". Really, if they are concerned they should at least start with an ultrasound. It is very easy to perform at this age but you lose the ability beyond one year because the fontalle (or soft spot) closes at about one year. Hope that helps. I have imaged many kids with big head, sent a few to neurology and all have been fine. Still makes sense to assess though.

Arcain - if he naps better in the swing or the vibrating bouncy, then just put him there for the naps. He'll start to grow out of that in a month or two and you can try putting him in the crib for naps then.Sometimes - espeically with naps, you have to go with what works. I didn't really work on "drowsy, but awake" until my twins were 16 weeks old.Hang in there - you're doing great!

I set up that Facebook page a while back, and I had no idea what I was doing! So it's out there as Friends of Boston.com Wedding and Parenting Boards. If anyone knows how I might be able to fix that, please let me know!

I was thinking of Poppy this weekend, and that upset you had with your mother in law doing the morning bottle. I've been feeling like I'm constantly away from DD too much, between work and some volunteer commitments I've had this month, or just trying to get buy in terms of housework and yardwork. I feel like I'm constantly saying "Hold on, DD! In a minute, DD! and just not having enough time where it's just the two of us hanging out and enjoying one another.

Yesterday, my MIL stopped by and it gave me the opportunity to take two hours and get the house and clothes in order for the week and even get a bit of weeding done outside, but I felt so down about it, and jealous of MIL and all the time she gets with DD (she comes over 2 days a week and helps my husband with her so DH can get some work done). It's so sad that these days I'm thinking "when I'm a grandmother....I'm taking care of my grandbabies."

I know I'm so lucky to have as much help and support as I do, and how lots of people would love a couple of kid-free hours over the weekend to get things done. I'm just struggling with those petty thoughts of wishing i had fewer work days, less house work, or self-cleaning laundry instead of more people wanting to have a couple of hours with my DD.

ml, I'm sorry you're having a low time right now. I don't think those are petty thoughts. Remember that Twilight Zone with the magic stop watch that stopped time for everyone but the holder of it? He could do whatever he wanted while everyone around him was frozen in the moment, totally unaware of his "extra" time. It must be a common fantasy to make it as a TZ storyline...'course, be careful what you wish for - if you recall, the stop watch broke during a frozen moment, and his life was stuck that way forever! LOL, or at least I hope I made you smile. ;)

Oh ML, feel better! I am one that is jealous that you have family around to help!! But I also understand wishing MIL did the housework so you could play with DD!

Kar: Thanks so much for the tick information! Maybe we will be able to get out in the yard then! My brother got DD a yard playstructure for her birthday. I'd be nice to actually let her use it!

Arcain: Neither of my kids napped well in the crib/PNP until they were much older. I want to say 4-5 months. Hang in there and use the swing/bouncy chair as someone suggested. Nothing wrong with that!

AFM, well, DS has officially weaned at 8.5 months. I'm at peace with it. I mean, what can I do? So I've moved to EPing. It's really not too bad, and at least I now know where things stand and I'm not trying to nurse, then pummping, then bottle (which was exhausting!!). I also like being able to track exactly how much he's eating since he's so skinny. I hope he'll get more this way.

We went on an amazing road trip this weekend too! Down to NJ and back with stops along the way to see friends and family. It was so nice to see everyone and the kids were fantasic in the car. DS finally had his fill at about 15 minutes from home, so it could have been much worse. I'd say it was a success and a great restorative weekend even if I'm dog-tired today!

ml - is it possible for DH or your MIL to do some laundry or light cleaning during the week so you have some more time with DD on the weekend? Or can you make a set time on the weekend that you don't worry about anything but spending time with DD? For instance, and this will sound totally silly, but in our house every Sunday night we watch America's Funniest Home videos at 7pm. We don't have an LO yet (5 more weeks, holy crap) so it doesn't quite compare but it's usually the highlight of my weekend because we stop everything that we're doing and watch together.

If not, I know vacation days are precious but maybe you need a vacation day with DD where you just focus on her.

I think my DS lived in his swing for the first couple months! Life saver. I actually remember his very first day home putting him in there and he went from crying to instant quiet! And ours even had music/white noise and the "static" or ocean sound was by far the best for him. Don't worry about an exact schedule or "bad" patterns of behavior until 4-5 months... 0-3 months is just exist with whatever works :-)

I forget if this is the thread where we talked about discipline and OPKs (the other kind... other people's kids). Had my friend for a visit/playdate yesterday with her 4.75, 2.5 and .6 year old kids. The two older ones got into a fight about who was going to use the shovel while their mom was changing baby's diaper inside. Oh dear... they were really screaming and tugging. I tried to offer other shovels, tried to rationalize and it was going nowhere. My friend is an amazing mom and I've never even heard her raise her voice. They listen to her so well that I was hoping they'd do the same for me. Nope. I felt hopeless and was just praying mom would return soon. I eventually said if they couldn't agree, no one was going to use the shovel. Boy that didn't go over well. When my friend came back, she wasn't mad in the slightest at my attempts at peace. Phew!

ML... sorry about those thoughts. I think we all know exactly the feelings. Just know its much worse for you than your DD (not sure that's any consolation)

ML - I think that all the time. I always wonder how my mom did it all then I remember that she was a sahm and wasn't trying to cram laundry, cleaning and fun all into 48 hours.

I also like to remind myself how blessed my kids are to be able to have such strong relationships with their grandparents. I saw mine maybe 6 rimes a year. Life will change soon enough (DD1 starts preschool in Sept!) and the kids will be having less and less time with them so I'm letting them soak it up while they can and I'm enjoying the occasionally peace. I seriously spent the hour from 6-7 yelling at someone (who changed moment to moment and not my best parenting moment) we finally went up to wake daddy up early 'cuz momma need an assist.

And I agree, DD is so lucky to have her grandmothers. My MIL in particular. This was a woman who had no interest in being a grandmother, said some pretty awful things when I was pregnant and tried to move over 1,000 miles away knowing the baby was arriving. And she has just been TOTALLY transformed by grandmotherhood, she is so wonderful with DD. And at 81 still chases DD all over the house laughing. I know she won't always be here for DD, and I need to count myself lucky.

Oh, and MIL DOES the laundry at our house, I just iron a few things and put things away, and then lay out the clothes for the week and make sure they are ready. Believe me, I have it super easy, I know I have nothing to complain about, but still manage to complain!

Arcain, I could be wrong, but I thought for most joggers, you can use a jogging stroller before 6mos as long as it wasn't for jogging and just for walking. Some do offer full recline, but not sure about the support - for some reason 3 mos is sticking out to me as the magic number for using them without an infant carseat adapter. I have a BOB and a double BOB and used the infant carseat adapter with both and therefore used them from birth - but also believe an infant could start around 3 mos without the adapter as long as there was head control and the ability to recline. We needed joggers for general walking in our area, especially with two winter babies. You can definitely find some on craigslist. We scored the double bob on ebay with free shipping. I am probably the exact opposite of Luv, we use strollers a lot and my back would kill with the Bjorn. Even getting my two in/out of daycare, I use an umbrella stroller as DS has a history of darting off. But everyone has their own way of things working - I have friends on both sides of the stroller vs. carrier question.

ML - I know just what you mean! It is always tough on the weekends to balance spending time with DD and being productive (either with cleaning or stuff I need to do online, etc.). Honestly, I almost never accomplish everything I meant to. I cleaned about 3/4 of the kitchen this weekend and didn't even touch the bathroom. Oh well!! I like the poem quoted above!!!

Arcain - I agree with others that you aren't necessarily establishing a bad habit at this young age, but I would suggest continuing to try to get your LO to nap in the crib regularly - once a day, every few days, whatever. With sleep, it seems like something that won't work one day miraculously works 3 days later! Around that age, I could easily spend 20 minutes getting DD to fall asleep for a nap only to have her wake up 20-30 minutes later. Her naps only increased to 45 mins (at home, longer at daycare), but the amount of time it took to put her to sleep decreased fairly soon to where I could walk around with her for less than 5 mins and then put her down. Good luck!

For the jogger, I have read/heard 6 months to a year. I think it really varies from baby to baby. DD had excellent head/neck control, but I tried walking her in the jogger twice around 6 months and her little head was bobbling all over, so I put it away for a few more months.

Oh, and MIL DOES the laundry at our house, I just iron a few things and put things away, and then lay out the clothes for the week and make sure they are ready. Believe me, I have it super easy, I know I have nothing to complain about, but still manage to complain!Posted by ml26202

I don't know if it's feasible for you or not, but we started having our button down shirts washed and pressed at the dry cleaner and it has made a HUGE difference. It was a seriously time consuming chore.Also, most of our clean laundry is in baskets lying around the house and I have welcomed dust bunnies into our lives. Sometimes laundry gets folded or things get dusted and DD "helps". Well, sometimes she actually does help, and sometimes she just flings things around. But it's possible your LO might be interested in "helping" soon? It's super cute and you get to be with them.The one thing I still struggle with "helping" is kitchen work. She's not steady enough yet to stand on a chair, and whenever I've tried to do things down low it's kind of a fiasco. Soon!

Once my kids were born I went with the easy way any time possible. Dry cleaners for anything that needs ironed, chopped veggies from the store (I love frozen chopped onions!)One load of laundry every day helps keep it from getting overwhelming on the weekends.Internet shopping to keep errands to a minimum. I even found a pharmacy that delivers.Cleaning lady 2x a month so stuff like the kitchen and bathrooms don't get out of hand. That way I can wipe things down between visits but leave the bleaching and scrubbing to her.My DH is always saying "I'm missing it!!!" about how fast our twins are growing up. Skip the gardening for a year or two (I did). This year I'm planting things with them, and if they dig them up or pick all the flowers I'm just going to enjoy the fun we have doing it together.

Thanks for the reassurance re:naps, all! Can you tell that I'm someone who should probably be banned from reading advice in books? :). Fram, good suggestion about still trying the crib every so often.. It's easy to say "he just won't do it," but as DS has proven many times to us already, you never know unless you keep,trying on occasion. It's how I figured out he finally likes (well, is at least intensely curious about) the bath and wil no longer scream his cute little head off when we try to bathe him. Yay for forward progress!
Thanks for the jogger advice, too. I'm going to look for one with a car seat adapter so I don't have to worry, and if i can't find that for some reason I'll hold off a bit longer. I went for a short walk with DS just in the Bjorn today. He can go either way with carriers, so I wanted to be sure he'd allow it without freaking out before I tried a long walk. He was great, but wow, an exta 11 lbs on the front is a lot! I felt like I used to feel trying to walk when pregnant. I think this may be part of my new fitness plan!
ml, I'm one of those people who relishes the few baby-free hours, but I know full well that it's because I'm home with DS all the time. I think I'll feel just like you do whenever I go back to working. You're not petty at all for having those thoughts. Everyone wants to clear the clutter of responsibilities out of their lives, and it's even more so when you have kids. Here's hoping you're able to get more of the quality time you want!

Trouble, glad you're feeling okay about the weaning. It is a bonus to see how much they're getting on the bottle. Glad the road trip,went so well, too!
Dz, thanks for sharing that poem. I actually find myself more compulsively drawn to cleaning now than I was before (trust me, I'm not super neat and clean by any stretch -- I just obsess about it and don't do anything). I suspect it has to do with wanting to accomplish a concrete task I know I can do well. I used to feel this way when I'd be involved in a particularly difficult, nebulous project at work -- just wanting to do something I can check off the list. Parenting introduces so many more uncertainties and curve balls that it makes those tasks seem more necessary even when they're so much less important....I'm going to think of that poem next time I feel personally judged by the dust bunnies!

dz, I love that poem so much I'm thinking of picking up needlepoint, again, to make it for my BFF expecting the triplets in June. (Although, how will I get 3 baby blankets AND a needlepoint done in under 2 months?) She's a very fastidious person by nature, but when 3 preemies join the family a lot will have to give, and I'm afraid she'll be overwhelmed with guilt she imposes on herself over it.

Kar - get her a copy of Elizabeth Lyon's "Ready or Not, Here We Come". It about the first year with twins - but the author's good friend has triplet girls. The Mom is described as a Type A+ personality - everything always perfect! Your friend might get a big kick out of it. (Not to mention some tips on the care of multiples.)

Get her the book early. She'll want to read it BEFORE the babies come. I'm sure her trips will spend a little while in the NICU - but even then there is so much more free time when they are in your belly than once they come out!Having a C-Section and "recovering" isn't like other surgery - you don't get the chance to lie around and rest. You have to push through and take care of the babies!One of my favorite gifts for me post partum was a cute nursing nightie with a little bathrobe. My mom got it for me at Destination Maternity in Natick. But you can shop online at Motherhood.com.

I fell in love with my DS all over again last night. He was eating like such a good boy, must be going through a growth spurt as all of a sudden he can't get enough food. (although, it turns out he will eat anything with a real fork... so he now gets a salad fork with every meal so he feels like a grown up). Anyways... he was almost done and for dessert, I wanted to give him the giant strawberries I had just bought. He was just beyond excited as I cut off the tops, handed them to him and he said "tank you." AHHHHH. Melted my heart! I said "You're welcome" and we went back and forth about 20 times :-) He has said it before just a few times, but never at the right time. So cute.

IPW, that is a great story. I love how our "babies" are turning into these amazing little people. DD prefers eating with a fork too...half the time the fork will just be in one hand and she'll still be eating with her fingers, but she's got to have the fork!

I'm so behind on posts, but ML - I feel your pain! That's *exactly* how I get! I'll really need to do laundry or something but won't want to give up time with DD, especially when I can hear them laughing and playing as I'm changing the sheets. Funny enough, i don't feel that way when it's DH watching her.

I had a jealous moment yesterday when I got home from work. I have about 1.5 hours with DD after work on week days, and really want to spend time with her, and MIL stands there watching us and interjecting constantly. I want to say, "You have ALL DAY ALONE with her! Can't you give me 1 hour?? Don't you have things to do??" Awful, I know, makes me sound so ungrateful. I know she has no idea, so I get over it, but I do have those moments. I know it will be a million times better when we're not living all under the same roof.